The Athletic Hockey Show - Babcock and Blue Jackets deny phone sharing controversy, NHL open to a return to Atlanta and Pat Brisson provides an update on Trevor Zegras and Patrick Kane

Episode Date: September 13, 2023

On this week's edition of the roundtable, Rob Pizzo from CBC Sports and Jesse Granger of the Athletic discuss the controversy with the Blue Jackets, generated by the Spittin Chiclets podcast, regarding head coach Mike Babcock and his players, sharing pictures and videos. We discuss Tomas Tatar's new deal with Colorado, the NHL being open to expanding in Atlanta...again, and Carey Price all but retired after a marvelos career with the Canadiens.Mike Russo stops by from the NHL media tour in Vegas and is joined by TSN and the Athletic Hockey insider Pierre Lebrun for a discussion with NHL super agent Pat Brisson, who's clients include Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Zegras, Quinn Hughes, Jake Sanderson and Elias Pettersson. Plus, Russo and Lebrun recap the NHL GM meetings and the media tour with info on Chris MacFarlane's Avalanche, Brad Treliving's Maple Leafs and Stanley Cup champion Jack Eichel.SUBSCRIBE TO THE ATHLETIC NHL'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL AT youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowGet a new subscription to the Athletic for $/2 per month for 12 months when you visit theathletic.com/hockeyshowRight now, Nuts.com is offering new customers a free gift with purchase and free shipping on orders of $29 or more at nuts.com/hockey23. So, go check out all of the delicious options at nuts.com/hockey23. You’ll receive a free gift and free shipping when you spend $29 or more! That’s nuts.com/hockey23 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Welcome back to the Athletic Hockey Show, the Wednesday Roundtable Edition. I am Rob Hezel from CBC Sports, joined, as always, by Jesse Granger, who's in Vegas. How are you, sir? I'm good. Hockey's getting close. We've got this week. We have hockey games on the schedule, rookie face-off games here in Vegas.

It should be fun. I get to see all the rookies out there. So hockey on the schedule this week. Friday, I will be watching live hockey. Can't wait. No rest for a guy who just covered a long playoff run with a Stanley Cup. Like you just get right back into it. I think it's because the last two or three, I can't keep track,

off seasons have been shortened. But this, even with the cup run, this off season has felt really long to me. Really? Oh, yeah. Well, it's because you go from such a high, right? Like, you go from like just craziness to, and now game one of the regular season will kind of feel like nothing.

But well, maybe not game one, because obviously there's a lot to celebrate there in Vegas. But you're right. Just around the corner. We are usually joined by our third line mate Mike Russo. He's in Vegas as well. The NHL is doing their annual media availability. He mentioned it on the show last week.

But even though he's not on the show, being the hardest working guy in show business, he sends us back interviews that we're going to play on the show. He had a little chat with Pierre LeBron from the athletic, but also Pierre and Mike spoke with NHL agent Pat Brissant about just a huge. huge amount of topics. So we're going to play both of those in segment number two of today's show. But Jesse and I are going to chat about a few things going into that segment. First up, before we even start, Jesse, I need you to hand me by your phone and show me some of

the pictures in your phone. And I just want to see what kind of podcaster you're going to be throughout this whole thing. I'll share the screen on Zoom. Share the screen. Obviously, you know where I'm going with this one. I, this story is so funny. I have to really just break it down for everyone in case they don't know the finer point. So give me a minute here, Jesse.

It all started on the spent chickless podcast with Paul Bissonette. He reported that he was getting texts and messages from players on the Columbus Blue Jackets that their new head coach, one Mike Babcock, had asked multiple players for their phones during their initial meetings. And he was apparently looking through their pictures and putting it on. a TV screen via screen sharing. And he wanted to know what kind of men they were. This was according to Paul Bissonette. The Blue Jackets obviously responded. They responded pretty quickly.

Mike Babcock said this was a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened. Doesn't deny that he was looking at pictures from people's phones, but was saying that it was more just to kind of talk about their lives and what kind of people there. he was he said they were holding their phones they were voluntarily showing him pictures boon jenner uh who was one of the players mentioned by bisonette also came out and said he just wanted to see pictures of my family it was a great first meeting uh said this is blown out of proportion uh babcock also spoke to the athletic and he said they quote they sit in my office their phone in their hand and they scroll through and when he was asked directly if they only shared pictures

that they wanted to share he said 100 percent and paul bisonette is not back down one bit. He said tons of players have confirmed this. All right. So, Jesse, what's in your phone? Yeah, way too many videos of me swinging my golf club in my backyard trying to perfect the down swing. Just boring crap that no one would ever want to see. I can't believe this is happening. Like after everything that happened with Babcock and all the talk about how he operates when they made this hire and how he would have to change that, I can't believe we're having this discussion right now this soon. He hasn't coached a game yet. And we're already having this conversation. This blows my mind.

But isn't that all the more reason? This is, look, I am not hooked up with anybody in the Columbus Blue Jackets organization. I'm not getting text. This is me speculating. When this story came out yesterday, I have a group of my best friends who we all have a group chat, and we always, nine out of ten times are talking hockey. And I said, can't be true.

There's just no way anyone who is hired under these circumstances after being fired for those circumstances is dumb enough to do something this quickly into their new job that they know would come out. It's just not believable to me. That's, like I said, I don't have any proof of this. I'm just saying, it's someone getting let out of prison for robbing a bank and then robbing a bank that day. It just does not happen. I totally, that's why I'm like blown away by it.

It just doesn't seem like this could be possible. I totally agree. it seems like, but what is happening? Yeah. Because, I mean, the photos are being shared to the screen. They admitted that much of it. Yeah. Is this a case of some players felt more uncomfortable than others?

And like, maybe Boone Jenner genuinely was like, no, this is fine. Whereas like some maybe younger players were like, no, I don't like this. I'm going to go complain to my buddy biz. Like, I'm very confused by all. Like, I don't think Paul Bissanet made this up. That would be insanity. Well, they did confirm that there were pictures. Yeah, there were pictures being shared.

So is it somewhere in the middle? And I think that is maybe what we're looking at here, Jesse. Is it somewhere in the middle? And I think you bring up a really, really, really good point. If you're a young player and your coach goes, hey, you know, show me pictures of your family, show me this, show me that. You're going to feel inclined to go, oh, God, I'm only going, you know, I have to do this. This is a new coach.

If I want ice time, if I won't be sent down. There is exerting your influence to maybe young players where an older player might say, absolutely friggin' not. You know what I mean? So maybe there's a little bit of that. And maybe that's something that Mike Babcock didn't even necessarily consider. I don't know because he hasn't denied looking at some of these pictures.

I just don't think. I don't know if it's as simple as, hey, I hear you. just had a new kid. Let me see, let me see pictures. You just got married. When you see people who haven't seen you since before the wedding, what do they say? Let me see some pictures. Right. You know what I mean? What is Instagram built on showing people pictures, right? Maybe it was a little bit of that, but this has been an explosion. The key line, I think, that makes everyone say, oh, God, this is, is Babcock doing something he shouldn't be again, is to me, the key line is the to see what kind of man you are.

Like that if, if the point of the exercise of, hey, connect your phone to my TV in my office, if the point of the exercise is for him to see what kind of man you are, this is a test of what kind of photos they have, even if, even if the players are only sharing the photos they have on their phone, like, why are we testing them with what kind of man they are based on the photos they have in their camera? That's craziness. That is the part that's like, was that actually what was happened? or was Mike Babcock just saying, hey, let me see, show me some pictures of your dogs.

And like, all the young players don't have family. So let me see your golden retriever. If that was the case, it's not a test of what kind of man you are. And then in that case, it was just Babcock doing something that's kind of weird and the young players didn't like it or whatever it was. But like, if he was doing it as a gauge of what kind of person they are, that's where to me, like, that crosses the line and like, what are we doing here? I agree. I agree. And it's just, I don't know.

If it's anyone but Mike Babcock, it's not even close to being a story. And he's earned that reputation because he's admitted to doing things that did cross a line. But I just kind of saw this whole story and I just thought, A, no one is stupid enough. I'm not saying that Mike Babcock won't do something that maybe crosses a line. But really, like you said, before coaching even one game. But it's funny that I started by saying me and my friends, text each other things. My friend Dave said, okay, guys, we all now play for the Columbus Blue Jackets. What are the last five pictures in your role? And we sent each other the pictures that we had.

And it started off easy enough. I got pictures of my daughter, everything else. And my friend, Ryan sent pictures of Dick Cheney and Dick Clark and a bunch of Dicks because he said he only had dick picks in his phone. So yeah, do that with your friends. If you play for the Columbus Blue Jackets, what's my back cock looking at in your phone? Anyways, I guess we're going to have to wait and see because like I said, Paul Bissonet ain't back and down on this one. But we're going to move on something we've touched on, I don't know, for the last year or two. We talk expansion all the time and all these stories come out when it's the NHL Media Week in Vegas. The league is saying there would be a possibility of an expansion into Atlanta.

And it's not the league that came out and said that, you know, there are groups interested in bringing a team to Atlanta. And the league has said that they believe that city's overcome some of the problems they had when a team hosted, when the city hosted a team in the past like the Atlanta Flames, like the Atlanta Thrashers. Are you interested in Jesse in seeing a hat trick of Atlanta teams in the NHL? I mean, people that are smarter than me think it's going to work. So I would say let's go for it. My only input is that I love the thrashers. I love the logo. I love the color scheme.

I love everything about the Atlanta thrashers. So if they go back to Atlanta, they better do like they did with Winnipeg and make it the Jets again. Make it the thrashers again. I don't want a new Atlanta team. The Atlanta thrashers are already amazing. Give me Atlanta thrashers. Yeah. I mean, what would you say to people, though, that say you've had your chance dot, dot, dot, dot twice.

There are other markets that would much rather have a, uh, uh, team. I have a hard time arguing against that. I think that's a legitimate, a legitimate, uh, concern. I think, especially when they're like, we hear Houston, we hear Salt Lake City, we hear, obviously Quebec City has been trying to get one for a long time. And I would have a really hard time arguing that Atlanta deserves a shot before those cities do. I'll wait and see on that one too. Um, speaking of the province of Quebec at least, uh, Carrie Price, spoke to the media yesterday. And it kind of made big news because he kind of, quote unquote, I guess, confirmed what we all really knew.

He hasn't officially retired. He still has three years left on his contract. But we know all about the knee injury. We've heard all about how if he had surgery on this knee, it'd be very high risk, not only for him coming back, but for his quality of life. He's been on LTIR since the day before forever. but he said, quote, barring a miracle, I'm still under contract. I still hold out hope to the fact that maybe I could play again, but the probabilities

are falling by the month. The honest thing, and he said this to Arpan Basso of the athletic, the honest thing is right now, it's not going to happen. Hardly earth-shattering news, Jesse, but what did you think when you saw some of these quotes? Yeah, I mean, like you said, it was pretty much confirming what we already knew. I don't think anybody saw this and was like, oh my gosh, Carrie Price might retire. Everyone pretty much knew that was the most likely outcome before all this. It's really sad.

I mean, any player's career ends because of injury and not on their terms, it's awful for, to me, the best goalie I've ever seen. Prime Kerry Price, like, Carrie Price is the goalie's goalie. Goalies love Carrie Price. If you talk to a group of goleys, every one of them, their favorite goalie, is Carrie Price. and it's because his technique is so perfect. He just does everything exactly the way you're supposed to do it. Like every little tiny piece. Like his skate blade is in the exact right spot.

His positioning is so perfect. He just, he, when he was at his best, he was, it was unbelievable. So it's sad to to see his career end this way. But like you said, pretty much what we expected. I find that ever since the 0405 season and the salary cap was implemented, Every year I find something that kind of irks me about it. It was originally designed because they wanted to, even the playing field. Rich teams can't outspend poor teams.

Everyone's got the same amount of money to spend. And in essence, that seems like a good idea. This whole thing with Kerry Price's contract is, and I don't know how to fix it, I'm not a capologist, but he's got three years left at a $10.5 million cap hit. And they have to play that balancing act. You know what I mean? In the offseason, you're only allowed to go 10% over the cap. So now you're hearing Kent Hughes say, well, we have to wait until our season opening roster is due.

Then we'll keep him on there until then. And then we'll put him on LTIR to leave us room. They can't spend in the offseason. Because of that, players are probably going to have to be sent down to the American Hockey League, even though there's no chance of Kerry Price being there in the opening day roster. I don't know. It just gets me sometimes with stuff like this. I understand why he won't retire because he's got over $30 million that he wants to earn.

But does this kind of stuff bug you as much as it bugs me? Yeah. I mean, it does. It turns hockey discussion into math problems a lot. Covering the Golden Knights for five years. I mean, they're doing as many loopholes and cap gymnastics as anyone. I do find it tiresome doing all the math every day. You're not looking like you hear like a player connected.

to a team and you don't say, well, how's he fit? Like, is, does he play with these? No, you're like, well, what's his cap hit number? And can we fix the LTIR so that we can get to this, so we can get to that. It's a math problem. And I agree that it does get old talking about math problems in hockey all the time. And you don't really hear those discussions in other sports, I feel like. Like in football, you never hear anybody compared, because they'll just restructure a contract

because it's not like they can just change everybody's numbers to make them fit. So you don't have those same discussions. as you do in hockey. And I like the salary cap because it does create parity. We have a lot of, we have great parity in the NHL, but it does create this, um,

this discussion and like the, the, the, the, the, the, the, the LTIR takes it to a whole other level of complication.

And I think that we, we've, we've had a different reason to complain about LTIR, I feel for the last three or four years specifically, you know, obviously what, with the lightning did with Kutrov and everything else. Uh,

but this one just seems weird to me. Like I, I just couldn't imagine even being one of those players that has to go down to the American hockey league, you'll be back, but just wait until Carrie can officially be taken off. Like, it just, it, again, certain rules and certain things are made with a clear intent. And that's not what the intent of the cap was. The intent of the cap was to give everyone the same amount of ammo to build a team. And this is what you and I are talking.

It's kind of just, it just gets me after a while. I agree. I agree. It's, it's, like I said, it takes the focus off of the hockey at times. Yeah, remember when we used to just say, who's better, player A or player B? Or, you know, who could go where and what kind of trade? Would this trade work? With that trade work?

Now it's just impossible to do. So anyways, we wish Carrie Price the best because I don't ever think he kind of really said, maybe, but I mean, he's certainly not a young player anymore either. So with every month, like he said, it goes the other way. And we talk a lot about the cap. And you know who else talks about the cap? It has to deal with the cap on a daily basis is Pat Brissons, the NHL agent. And we're going to hear from him.

Like I said, Mike Russo and Pierre LeBron sat down with him in Vegas. We're going to play that interview. Coming up right after the break. Jesse, we talked about, you know, the cap and everyone suddenly becomes, you know, experts at math and everything else because of the cap. agents have obviously had to do a lot of that dancing and everything. And the other thing is ever since the cap, you know, came about, we know agents so much more, right? We know who they are.

We know exactly who they represent. They become celebrity sometimes themselves. And Pat Broussaint is one of those guys. When you represent guys like Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, Copa Tavs, everyone's heard of Pat Brisson. And he sat down with Mike Rousseau and Pierre Lebrun. to talk, man, just a number of topics. I can't get over. I listened to this interview, Jesse, right before we came on.

And the amount of topics they hit were crazy. And then right after that, Russo and LeBrun kept the recorder going and recapped everything that was going on in Vegas, including Pierre trying to balance being a hockey insider and a Dallas Cowboys football fan, which has got to be a difficult rollercoaster. of emotion. So here we go. Mike Gruso, Pierre LeBron, with NHL agent, Pat Prissel. Well, welcome to Pat Brissan, a power agent, part-time actor, music producer, I've heard,

roller hockey star. And yet here you are in Vegas, fresh off another big, big deal with Jake Sanderson. First of all, I mean, does it ever get old working? I mean, you just, like, working these contracts, it's just, it's amazing. It seems like everyone's bigger than that. Well, it's actually, we're going back in the 90s right now when you're talking about all the other stuff. But no, you know what, it doesn't get old. I mean, you know, I love to challenge myself and we like to do what we do and get excited when we can get a deal done. Actually, sometimes it goes quicker than other times, but, you know, it doesn't get old. Actually, that's the goal to get it done, you know.

Speaking of some deals that you've done, we were just chatting with cold coffee. here at the player tour. And, you know, I asked him about the long-term commitment that he made to the haves because it's really been a trend here the last couple of years, Pat. You know from a lot of your clients. Yeah. A lot of players have a lot of the same markets on their wish list, you know, Vegas, Florida, Nashville, you know, we know all the markets.

But it was interesting to hear Cole and how passionate he was about why he wants to be a half, why he loves the market and the culture and all that. what's your sense of that from all your clients? Obviously it depends on the player, but I mean there are some guys who love to be in a market like that in Canada where it drives them. Other guys who like to go to the rink and flip-flops. Yeah, yeah.

No, it's a great question. I mean, the first thing we always ask our players, when contract talks start, you know, first of all, you're happy where you're at. Do you see a future there? First and foremost, before we talk money and all that, that's very important. And then in Coles case, obviously, he's very happy.

You know, you see over the years when you start traveling a little bit more, perhaps, and seeing different trends with different teams as you get older within your career after year five or six, where do I want to be vis-à-vis the other, you know, do I prefer the south or the north or this team of that team? Like, it's hard for a young player the first two, three years to really understand, you know, how better or worse it could be around the league too. But for most case, if you're treated well and if you're seeing your career going in the right direction, you know, you want to do a long-term deal.

And obviously, the latest one you did it was with Jake Sanderson. Did you know right away it was going to be eight years? And it feels like you just created a new marketplace for that type of defenseman. Yeah, well, when you're a year out with an inter-level player, Jake has another year left. on the contract. So you rarely do a bridge. You do a bridge at the end of a contract. Usually you're going to explore a seven or eight year deal if you're a year out. So as soon as we start

talking to Ottawa, first of all, again, Jake was happy there, see the future. He likes where the organization's going and therefore we went right to eight years. So there was no question, especially year out. And how does this affect now the Owen Power negotiations with Buffalo? I mean, I was talking to Kevin Adams the other day at the GM's meetings, and you said that conversations have been very, very healthy and productive. Yeah, we've had a few conversations, and now camp is, what, a week away from now? So we're going to continue to talk. I mean, of course, Owen and Jake are within similar comps.

You know, you always bring a pool of about seven to ten players. And, yeah, so we'll see how it goes. Well, let's talk about other. ongoing files here. Trevor Zegris. Yes. Still needs a new contract in Anaheim. Where is that at? Yeah, we've had a few conversations as well.

At this point, we're a week away. We want for Trevor, hopefully, to be ready for camp and be there at camp. Hopefully, we can get something done by camp. It's not good for anyone to miss camp. It's not good for the organization. It's not good for any players that matter. So we're going into this. In good faith, try to work.

fair deal and hopefully we can get something done hopefully I can put a timeline before camp if not then unfortunately we'll have to explore other options but the goal here is to get it done before camp this one doesn't have the same level of urgency because he's got another year on his deal but given the market that's involved in the passion in Vancouver a lot of people wondering about Elias Pedersen yeah his next deal I know there have been some conversations with the Canucks summer or you can satinistrate, but what's your sense of where that's headed?

It sounds like maybe Elias wants to be patient. Yes, he doesn't want to be patient. He's excited about the upcoming season. He's excited about how things are going, you know, recently. And he wants to absorb and make some decisions probably towards the end of the season and see how things are going to go. He's still a restricted free agent at the end of the years. It's not like he's a UFA.

So he's at an amazing summer. He's ready to have a big year and then we'll take it from here. You mentioned long-term deals versus bridge deals. I mean, do you think that, especially with the cap, you know, as Maddie Baneers just had a great line, he said it, he called it their COVID debt is about to be paid up. Yeah. Cap is about to, you know, really accelerate the next couple of years. Would bridge deals make sense for both Pedersen and Zegris?

We, well, Patterson, it's his third deal. He's a year away after that from free agency. So different where he's at age-wise. And Zegris is much younger, maybe three years younger. It all depends. I mean, yes, we see a bump coming. The cap will probably be going to 87, 88 million next year.

At the same time, there's a value to sign an eight-year deal sometimes versus a three-year deal. We're going through the math all the time. The optics are that when the cap goes up, the cap goes up, you say, oh, my God, the AAV. Now this player is making 10 instead of seven and a half. But therefore, if you do, the calculations

the first three years at let's say six and a half or seven million and then you do eight years divide by eight the delta and it's not easy to explain

is it worth the risk sometimes to try to get an extra six seven million over term where you already have 64 to 68 million guaranteed see I listen

you guys are so much above me with this but I think about this a lot too I think money in the bank's money in the bank. If I was an agent, I would be so all over eight-year deals for a lot of my clients. And again, I don't work through this for a living like you do, but eight years is eight years. You can't take that away. Yeah, and there's a guaranteed contract and the risk reward.

You've got to calculate. Now, if you've made money, if you've made money, it's your second or third contract, or you've made money, and you want to do a three or four or five-year deal. We're chasing a cop. God forbid something. happens, you're set. But out of entry level, there are no players that are wealthy enough to really retire. So we got to do the pros and cons. Patrick Kane, the last that I had talked to you about it on July 1st, Pat, you said Patrick Kane would take his time. He's got a long recovery

ahead here. What's your sense of that may play out in terms of his decisions? Well, I'm so proud of him, first of all. His rehab has been unbelievable. He's been so dedicated because rehab is as important, if not more, in the surgery itself. We've had many touches, conversations here and there. There's a lot of interest for Patrick Kane, but our goal is to see if and when he clears, and again, I'm not going to put dates,

whether it's November or December, I don't know. At that point, we'll look at the landscape. We'll look at world. The needs are going to be for certain teams, the cap space. There's going to be so many other factors that we don't yet in three months or four months or two and a half and I think we're going to be in a really good seat at that point to make the right decision for Pat with Pat and I mean they've been paired

together forever so if I'm going to ask you about Patrick Kane I'm going to ask you about Jonathan Taze what's going on with Jonathan yeah with Johnny he's doing well he's feeling well he released a statement a few weeks ago and he didn't want to take some extra time him he knows his body he knows what he wants. Would I be surprised if he calls me in November and December and want to play again? Maybe. I don't know, but the one thing I know is he's in a good place right now. How proud of you just the news yesterday with Quinn Hughes becoming captain of the Canucks? So proud. I mean, someone that, I mean, deserves it, works so hard. All the cliches. I mean, I remember seven, eight years ago,

we were hoping for Quinn to play college hockey at one point when it was 14 or 15 and now not only that became a first round pick a high first round pick but also the captain of Vancouver Canucks work ethic and emmoration for him so much you know um speaking of college hockey um you know I'm amazed at how much you watched Brendan play uh I mean it felt like you read every one of his games I don't know if that is true and Jordan as well it felt like that you're at every one of his games. And, you know, I was talking to one of your colleagues, Brand Feldman agent.

Yeah, and he was telling me about advice that Pierre Laquois once gave you about being a hockey dad, and it felt like you really, really took that under. That's a good point. I mean, when I got involved in the business a little bit, I mean, Pierre was kind of my mentor,

someone I looked up to, and he had obviously sons, Eric, and Marty played hockey as well. And he always told me about balancing my, my career with my family and, you know, your boys are playing hockey, so you'll be in ranks. And actually, I was able to really look at the best 2000s and 01s and 02s and 03. So, you know, it was working pleasure as well, you know. Yeah.

And the way it works, obviously, is I guess there's some separation there in terms of hockey dad and agent. I guess your colleague, J.P. Barry is officially Brendan's agent. Yeah, J.P. is the voice. He's the official voice. He's got to deal with a crazy dad once. in Ohio. But, yeah, JP will be handling. And you're in a rank that Brennan's might be playing in, right? I mean, yeah, actually, we're, yeah, we spent time in Henderson last year. It's only an hour flight from L.A. And so, yeah, so I've been here a lot and try to balance everything out. And hopefully, I mean, he's ready for a big camp and we'll see how it goes. Making the team.

I'm going to reveal some insider knowledge here about Paperson, the hockey coach and youth hockey coach. Luke Robatai once told me that Paperson was suspended one year in youth hockey. In El Saganza? Well, unfortunately, it's true. It's true. I, and Rob Blake was behind the bench with me and he had to hold me back. And I tell parents a lot of times, I said, I've broken remote controls as well. I do understand what you're going through as a parent. So, yeah, we get emotional. And, but I. So they're going your coaching career. Yeah, so I was fired right after that. And that was in El Cigando?

Yeah, I was actually in El Cigando. In another game, actually in Anaheim, that's the one I got five games that was over. I climb over the board. I didn't do, I wasn't smart. I wasn't. In all seriousness, no, the growth of hockey in California, can you tell our listeners about it? I mean, isn't it phenomenal from the day you showed up there? Yeah.

Yeah, I moved there in the 87. 35 years ago, there's one rink at that point. It was a Culver City ice rink with a king's practice. It was a terrible, terrible venue. And when Wayne Gretzky got traded there in 88, things start picking up like crazy in L.A. And I was doing a lot of clinics. I was teaching hockey to kids, adults, actors, musicians, all that stuff.

And it grew so much. And then we got involved Luke and I and other partners in building ice rinks. James Gesso had a lot to do with it, with the program, he came from Quebec, and then all the fathers, the Craig Johnson's, and Nelson Emerson's, the Glenn Murray and Rob Blake and Niedemeyer, got all behind youth hockey, and it's... California is an amazing pool now for hockey players. I mean, this is what, 30 million people live in California, an athlete's an athlete. You put skates on a kid, a five-year-old kid, he's got a chance, whether he takes the game going forward. or plays baseball, basketball, you know. Yeah.

Gotta give them opportunities. And the growth of the Anaheim Ducks High School League is a story in itself, right? I mean, all the high school teams of the Ducks run that league. I mean, it's crazy. Yeah, they've done a great job. The Ducks and the Kings are branding their names around and making sure they into high schools and more than ever. I mean, it's remarkable.

Your first big project to her was a VHS tape called Mariela Magnificent. Yeah. Yeah, what was that? and how much did that sort of create the path of promoting players? It was in 1990, actually. I approached Mario and Tom Rich and Steve Rich were his agent at the time. That's how I got in the business, actually, through Steve and Tom. But we produced Mario to Magnificent, and it was an amazing experience.

I was supposed to make, I think, a dollar a tape. We sold about 400,000. I think I said 25 grand. So I learned to do something. in the don'ts right there. But I, it was a great experience. And then, I mean, so you live in Santa, right on Manhattan Beach there,

and you were roller hockey. That's how you actually met your wife, right? It was... Yeah, I met Kim playing roller hockey in Santa Monica, where we used to play almost every day on the weekends and a lot of ex-players and everyone who played the game of hockey, fluke came from the East Coast

or Canada were playing on the weekends. And I, that's how I met Kim. And, uh, She was a good, good athlete. And yeah, been married for 23 years. Pat, there's a new woman's pro league. And boy, there's a lot of buzz about the league. And I was curious what your thoughts are,

given the growth of women's hockey, you know, where this is headed and what do you think the future is, you know, for them. Yeah, I'm very excited about it. I mean, my mother was the president of the youth hockey associations back in the days in Valley Field where I grew up. And I've always looked up too. Her as being a leader in the industry and having a mother involved with the game really got me to where I am today. So the more girls playing the game and taking bigger roles within the game, it's great for the game.

It's great for sports. And it's exciting. And I'm glad that we finally have a solid league here going forward. And, you know, Senator Feldman, again, Brent Feldman, was a huge advocate for, at women's hockey for many, many years, and I give him credit for standing behind it for many years. He's so persistent. He represents a lot of players in that league, including the first player taken in the PWHL. I saw you walking with your dad in Montreal last year. I mean, they've got to be so proud of you. I mean, you've negotiated almost, what, you have, I think,

$1.5 billion in active contracts. Now you've negotiated billion dollars in contracts. Like, you've got to be just amazed at the career that you've been able to forge since you started, as you mentioned, with Mario a magnificent, you know? Well, I think I've been very privileged, like all of us, to be associated to the game, hockey. I mean, it's always been my love since the first day I put skates on, and I got lucky. I persevered. I worked hard. I had great people around me that gave me opportunities and believed in me, and I kept pushing,

and then you get your breaks that way. So we're all privileged to be associated with such a great culture. Yeah. And our younger viewers may not know this. Obviously, we do. But, of course, you were a heck of a player yourself. Yeah, for the Hall Olympics. Played for the late Pat Burns, right?

Yeah, played for Pat with Luke and Girolo was an amazing center. Gio. Gia Abstrap pick. Yeah, Guy had 92 goals his last year. I think Luke had 60-some goals. I had like 50. We had an amazing line. So what was your job on that line?

I just go, go in front. Ask Luke. tell you that I was the one creating trouble for everybody because I, you know, I used to go in front the net and get rebounds and tip pucks and all that. I was playing with two, I mean, fantastic players, but Pat Burns was an amazing coach, too. We had a great year, and it was a great experience. And Bob Gertang Arena back in the day, when people could smoke in the rink. That was the most unique atmosphere in junior hockey, right? Yeah, I mean, during warm-up, sometimes we had to to skate altogether, you know, both sides to get the smoke.

But nothing, nothing beat LaValle when we played for Verdun in 82, 83, when La Fontaine was playing Lemieux on Monday nights in LaValle. It was $5 a ticket, and it was $5.50 a ticket just for that night. And there were no restrictions. People were in the stairs, and you couldn't even see the other hand of the ice because, you know, there was so much smoke. But those are the days. When I covered the Panthers in the late 90s, early 2000s,

they would have training camp in that arena and hull. And I once watched Rick Dudley beat up a Coke machine in that building. It was pretty right in the middle of a rookie tournament game. So it was not a shock. I got one last one for Pat because we've got to let him, he's got a bunch of clients here. You've been pretty outspoken over the years about the importance of best on best hockey and Olympic participation and all these things.

And the World Cup of hockey hopefully coming back one day. But what's your sense of that now? Obviously right now there is a commitment from the league to go to the next Winter Olympics in Italy. But what would, in a bigger vision, what do you hope finally happens here? Well, let's not forget. We're in the entertainment business. We're here to put out a product and try to sell tickets

and obviously get, you know, better TV rights and more viewers. You know, we're all about eyeballs. And I do believe that we have the NHL is the best talented, the most talented athletes, hockey players in the world. And therefore, we should continue to push for a bigger stage, i.e. the Olympics or World Cup. But the Olympics is a no-brainer for me. It has nothing to do really what the players want to do. Of course, the players do want to do play. Yeah.

But it's beneficial for the game for the, for the Olympics. The NHL owners for the league itself, we're creating more attention to the game, and therefore it grows the pie. We're all about growing the pie. We're 50-50 in revenues right now. The bigger the pie is, the more money the players are going to make, and the more valuable the NHL franchises are going to go up. So the Olympics is a must on behalf of owners as much as players. Last one, just for me. I agree.

Ange Coppatar flared with 30 goals last year. Can't imagine him ever playing for any other team than the L.A. King's. Yeah, I don't see him playing elsewhere. We did a two-year extension. He has a year left under his contract. I mean, Copey's been extremely consistent. What a career. Probably one of the best centers in all times.

You know, both ends of the eyes, 200 feet, complete game leadership. So proud of him. and glad that he wanted to play another two years. And then maybe from there, he might play again, but I only see him in the King's uniform. And that's interesting because there's an example of a player that signed one of those long-term deals that we talked about

and that got right through it. Yes. And still is able to sign it to your extension for decent money. In other words, sometimes you get the end of these deals and it's like the body doesn't cooperate or it's time to go. That's a pretty good story there where he still can tack on another two years there. Yeah, we use Copey as a.

as almost a perfect platform, like three years and three levels, seven years, eight years, and two, where you capitalize those 15, something to be said about it. And yes, I mean, it worked out perfectly for him. Well, if you want to read more about Paterson, I did a father-son story on having his son, Brendan, right before his draft year, right before the draft a couple years ago, before he was taken by Vegas. Pat, really appreciate you joining Pierre and me today from the NHL Media Tour. Thank you, Mike. Thanks, Pierre. That's a bad. Merci, beaucoup. Thanks, thanks, guys.

Thanks. Well, my colleague, Pierre LeBron, we've seen a lot of each other, Stanley Cup Final, GM's meetings last week, and now here at the NHL Media Tour. What I really regret missing, though, is watching you in your hotel room all alone watch the Dallas Cowboys beat the living shit out of the New York Giants. Yeah. And by the way, if you could only see the smile on Pierre's face right now, he's beaming. That was a very satisfying week-one victory by North America's team, the Dallas Cowboys.

And the reason I made sure after spending most of the day watching a lot of football in a sports book at one of the casinos here in Vegas, which was fun because it's a great atmosphere and people are yelling. One thing I don't do now in the last number of years is watch a Cowboys game with other people. It's pretty rare. It was my wife's recommendation years ago where she said, I don't think you should. should watch that team with other people. So I pretty much do the solitary thing for the Cowboys Games pretty much all the time. So yesterday we had 6 p.m. dinner reservations at a nice restaurant here in Vegas. But Pierre's like, we need to be there by opening kickoff of the Jets of the Jets game. Jets Bills. You are not just a Cowboys fan. You are a absolute NFL fanatic. Football is my

absolute passion. I mean, listen, I obviously still love hockey. Hockey's giving me my livelihood in which I'm incredibly fortunate, you know, that I've had this livelihood, same as you. But because I don't cover football and because it's not work, I mean, football really is my love. And yeah, you're right. I will often tape other teams games that I find interesting on the schedule and I'll watch them. Yeah. And I love football. I love how the schemes, the play calling, the drama, and I'm in three fantasy football leagues.

I can't get enough of it, honestly. Yeah. And it isn't funny when a bunch of sports journalists, Elliot was there with us too, or watching a game, how we see something happen. We almost like watch it from a sports writer's perspective. We were both talking about how easy it would have been to write that Aaron Rogers story yesterday.

And we were talking about how we would write it and everything. It's just, it's like you can't get it out of your blood. Yeah, and I've never met the guy. And to be honest, you know, some of the things Aaron Rogers has said over the years, I don't know that I'm his biggest fan. but I immediately just felt so bad for him. Like that could be the last play of his career and what a career it's been.

I just, that first feeling is you feel so awful for a pro athlete or any athlete to go down like that with a torn Achilles. But then you think, yes, as a sports writer, you immediately think of what would I be doing if I was covering that game tonight? Like, that's the biggest story of the year potentially, right? Yeah. And how it affects. I mean, the saga to get them there, the drama, the contract, the hard knocks,

So then all of a sudden, first drive. And the Jets still win a game, by the way, which almost got. They are one and all with their riders is quarterback. Crazy. Crazy. All right, let's do some quick hitters here because we actually are at the NHL media tour, getting player after player. We're about to get NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.

So let's start off with your week. What a week you leave the cottage after eight weeks. And you immediately fly into Chicago and you sit down with Brad Tree Living. Yeah, really kind of the New Leaf. GM that took a few minutes. We sat down last Thursday afternoon and chatted for a bit. And I thought he was very open and candid, sort of walking me through, you know, his feelings about taking that job, not just the fact that it's, obviously, it's arguably the most coveted job in the NHL as a GM. I mean, you can imagine if you're the guy that finally went to cuff in that market.

Hero. Yes. It would be statues of a wall throughout Toronto. But I thought it was interesting. He mentioned how he thought about Kyle Dubus, because him and Kyle Dubus had developed a friendship, and he watched from afar as, you know, the dramatic divorce of Kyle Dubus from the Leafs, and he felt for Kyle Dubus. And so here he is replacing him.

And I thought that was an interesting perspective. Like, it's not just, you know, everyone's, you know, every man for his own here. There are, it's a very small club, the GM club. and these guys rely on each other a lot for counsel and for, you know, conversations during tough times. And I think with Brad Chuliving shared in that interview is that, yes, of course, at the end of the day, after talking over with his wife, there's no way he could say no. Yeah. But you still have to go through some emotions to get there. And I thought it was interesting that he shared that.

Yeah. I sent him a congratulatory text at the time. And he's like, congratulations or condolences. So he's got a sense of humor about it too. Chris McFarland, the Avs GM. Doesn't talk a lot, but he sat down with you. I mean, I find him to be one of the more interesting guys in the league, and then maybe that's the reason.

He does not do a lot of media. He's the cat guy in Columbus forever. Yeah, and I think he just, you know, and again, he was Joe Sackick's right-hand man for many years before he got the promotion in Denver as GM. I just don't think that Chris McFarlane seeks to spotlight. And it's why you don't see him do that much media throughout the year. He's happy just to be in the, I think, away from the spotlight.

But the reason I want to sit down with him is that, you know, these are the cup champs from two years ago. And it's almost like, like do people really think their windows already closed? I don't think so. I mean, I think that if they can get healthy here and they're not going to get totally healthy, their captain Gabriel Lannisog is going to be out for their regular season. I thought they had a great off season. You know, what they were missing last year when they lost cadre is that was pretty palpable.

And I think they, you know, you get Ryan Johansson. Today they signed Thomas Tatar for peanuts. You know, it's just, to me, they've had a really good offseason. Yeah. And, you know, at the end of the day, the guy he can't replace his Lannisog because he's such an important emotional leader. And, of course, what McFarlane said is, who knows, come playoff time, whether or not Lannisog can come back. Boy, what an addition. That would be, although.

So there's no sure thing of that. The Kutrov replaced. Well, you know. But I think at the end of the day, hey, at the end of the day, I look at that blue line. I look at Nick McKinnon and Miko Ranton, and I just think they're going to be right there. I mean, I think Vegas has an excellent shot at repeating. I think Colorado is going to come back strong. I think Connor McDavid and the Oilers are knocking at the door for real.

Yeah. I like Dallas. And yeah. And so you start to see in the west how. where the path is there. Absolutely. Let's get back to the GM's meetings in a second, but then you flew out here to Vegas

and you got to sit down with Jack Eichel, wrote a real fun story. We watched this guy go through unbelievable turmoil and scrutiny as he exited Buffalo. He comes here and wins a cup in his first full season here, and the way you ended that column was pretty cool as well. Well, listen, I mean,

as Jack Eichol said, he's not going to lie. I mean, winning a cup is vindication for him. I mean, a lot of people second-guess Jack Eichel, first of all, people attacked his character on his way out of Buffalo. And I get it. I mean, he asked for a trade. So you're not going to get compliments when he asked for a trade.

But a lot of people, I think, I think a lot of people, it's not like I have the full insight on Jack Eichael either. But I think from the outside, a lot of people have misunderstood him over the years. He hates losing so much that I think that really affected him when he was a young captain in Buffalo. Yeah. But to suggest that he's not a team guy or this or that, it's simply not true based on the evidence that we're getting from the Golden Knights.

He's beloved in that dressing room, the Vegas Golden Knights. And I ended that call by asking him about the vindication. He goes, damn right, right? For the people that went after him and question his character, there's no question that to him winning that Stanley Cup and putting that Stanley Cup over his arms, over his neck, if you will, right? Over his neck.

It meant a lot to him. Yep, that's good writing there, Pierre. And just to echo that, I mean, and this isn't an off-the-record statement because Marcus Flino has said it to me on the record, but I remember when the Wilder were going after Eichol, and I asked Marcus, I'm like, you know, there's a lot of, like, talk that he's a bad guy, bad locker room guy, cancer, all those things. It's the furthest thing from the truth, great guy, great character, all that.

So, you know, I trust Felino on that. Let's go back to the GM's meetings. So we're sitting there in the lobby and all of a sudden we see Joel Quenville and Stan Bowman walk out of there. You know, what do you make of them being invited there and them addressing the GMs and for the first time head coaches? Well, I definitely see it as a necessary step if it ever happens that they are reinstated by Commissioner Gary Bettman to work again in the NHL, which is no sure thing, by the way. our understanding is that Betman invited both guys to come and speak to the group about, you know, what, you know, what happened in Chicago, what they learned from it, but also about some of the work they've done since then. And we know that Stan Bowman, for example, and it's not something that he's trying to get attention for, but our understanding is that he's worked with Sheldon Kennedy for more than a year on the kind of work that the respect group does out of Calgary with different. groups and so you know at the end of the day I think there are a lot of people that are just never

going to accept either guy coming back to work in the NHL but you know there's it certainly appears to me that they're trying to put the work in to understand you know what's transpired here I don't know where Gary Bettman's going to come down on this it's it's you know he certainly to this point has not been comfortable reinstating either guy. And it's noteworthy because, you know, Joel Quinville would have been someone probably in demand this past summer when there were coaching vacancies. And he simply, the league reminded teams, my understanding is that he simply was not available. So let's see where it goes. Yeah. Let's do some quick hitters. I was talking to Kevin Sheldalev out there. And one thing he said, I mean, I think all summer, a lot of us thought that

maybe Schifley and Connor Hullabuck could be on the move. He said, as far as he knows, or in his opinion right now, that both will be in the opening night lineup. Yeah, it's an interesting one because, boy, you sure had the impression at the draft in Nashville with Conor Hellebuck in particular that he was going to be traded. And a lot of that came down, as we reported from the fact that at the time,

it didn't seem like Ellibook was interested in signing an extension with the Jets. I don't know if that's changed. I haven't spoken to his camp recently to know whether that's changed or not. But I think it speaks to a couple of things. Obviously, anything that was thrown Kevin Shovel Day off's way this summer for either Shifley or Alibuck was not good enough. You're not going to give these guys away. But I also think it speaks to, and he said this to you, Mike, but I think it speaks to the Jets' intention. They got a pretty good return for Pierre Lig Dubois.

The Jets aren't rebuilding. No. They want to compete. So that's a delicate dance because at the end of the day, if you end up losing either one of those guys for nothing next July 1st, that probably hurts. Yeah. We were just talking to Josh Morrissey, who signed the big extension a couple years back, and you could tell he would like those guys to follow us soon and shapely.

Hellabuck, let's go through some quick hitters. We just sat down with Pat Brisson. He's got some interesting guys. He just signed Jake Sanderson to the 65. $4.4 million dollar contract over eight years. He made it no qualms that he looks at Owen Power as a comp. And then we asked him about Zeeverson and Pedersen as well. Yeah. And he he reiterated, or I guess confirm what, you know, our friends in the Vancouver media have talked about already, including Thomas Trance, that Elias Pedersen is not in a hurry to sign an extension that he wants

to probably go through the season here before he figures that out. And so, so that's, That's a big one for the Canucks. He's not UFA in a year. He's RFA, so that's not the end of the world. I think the Trevor Zegris run is one to watch. So obviously Pat has to be careful with what he shares with us here. But if I were to read between the lines from what I can gather, I think that negotiation is in a tough place right now.

And that's a big one. I mean, that's a young star, a guy the ducks are building around, and for whatever reason, they haven't been able to get on the same page with Pat Verbeek and Pat Versan here in terms of a contract with Trevor Zegris yet. So definitely one to monitor. Shane Pinto talked to Dorian the other day. He said nothing is going on status quo.

Obviously, a lot can change in a matter of days, but that's the latest there. Let's just go through a couple other little quick hitters. Arizona update. We're going to talk to Bill Daly in a while, as you and I know, not a lot of things have changed. Arizona, I think, has told, January to figure out, you know, to prove to the league that they got their ducks in order for a new

rink, right? I mean, that's basically, yeah. I don't think there's a lot of leeway there. I mean, so the clock's ticking. You want to tell everybody about regional TV? Any update there? You're the king of those updates. I know. That is up here. LeBron. We're going to get with Bill Daly right now. Thanks, everybody. Jesse, one of the things that popped out to me in that interview with Brisson is how adamant he is on international hockey and best on best being a quote no-brainer, being a must. how it grows the pie and it's the bigger the pie, the more money for everyone else. We hear that from agents all the time, but not always when it comes to international hockey. You know, we've heard people in the past say, we don't want to just be putting our assets out there to possibly get hurt, you know, to stop the NHL season.

How do you stand on that? What do you think of that, that an agent coming out saying, no, no, no, in order for our game to grow, in order for that pot to get bigger for everyone, we need best on best hockey. Yeah, I totally agree with it. I think we see it in soccer with the World Cup every four years. Soccer is suddenly, like, at least like living in a country where soccer is not the biggest sport in America, it is the biggest sport for that month or whatever. So I think we've seen it, but I think like you said, it's a little surprising to see an agent maybe with a bigger picture, not just thinking about the injury that their client could suffer, the amount of money that they could be losing if they, if they, if they, if they were to be hurt, but looking at the long-term health of the game, and I think it's refreshing to see, to see an agent kind of viewing things that way. What do you think? I've always been in favor of a best-on-best. I don't care if it's the Olympics. We don't, and I know they want to put on the World Cup every two years, every four years of the Olympics in between, because, you know, that would be a lot more money in the NHL and the NHLPA's pockets.

I get that. I don't care what it is. I'm not a big fan of best-on-best with gimmicks. I'm not like the World Cup of hockey where you have a North American team. You have a young gun team. That to me, I'm not a fan of. I want to see Canada versus Russia, you know, Canada versus the Americans. I love it. I have my whole life. I always will. And I think it does put, put eyeballs on a game all around the world that will help it grow. So I, I would love to see more best on best hockey. I just don't, and I also don't want to see the league picking and choosing as far as the Olympics go. I covered the Olympics in Pyongchang and, you know, it was fun and it's hockey and I got to know a lot of those players probably a lot closer than I would have had I been covering the Sydney Crosby's of the world.

But in the end, I want to see Connor McDavid try to win a gold medal. That's just, and I think that will put eyeballs on there. The other thing I thought was really interesting when he talked about long-term deals versus bridge deals, especially now that the cap is apparently going to go up. again, not necessarily what you're used to hearing from an agent, but he said, you know, bridge deals are great when they work because the cap goes up and then eventually you sign more, but sometimes eight year deals right now, money in your pocket is always better. And that's less money in the agent's pocket. If suddenly that happens where somebody's six, seven years into their deal and they're now a steal,

but I like hearing, I like hearing an agent kind of Jerry McGuire it a little bit. and think about the health and well-being and the financial well-being of their of their players as well. Right. The sport is violent as hockey. The long-term deal, there's like there will never not be an allure to the long-term deal. Like players will all, like some of them won't. Some of them will bet on themselves. Yeah.

There will never be a time in the history of hockey where there aren't a bunch of players that just say, I want guaranteed money for as long as I can get it. But don't you find now more than ever the bridge deal? is a tool that players are using? Like, they're betting on them. This isn't chess. This is one hit and you're done. Do you think that's, do you think that's hockey becoming more skilled and fast and

less hitting? And like, do you think that's part of it? It's like players are less afraid that they're going to get caught over the middle and be done? I wonder. That's, that's an interesting way to look at it. I always looked at it because we're seeing these deals a lot of times out of entry level contracts in year four.

And I look at that a lot of times as just youthful exuberance. I think young, when you're young, we know this. When you're young, you feel like nothing's going to hurt you. You against the world. And if somebody says, hey, you know, sign this short term deal and then afterwards, if you do well, you're going to get massive amounts of money. I think young players are much more interested in taking that risk. veterans who

you know creak and crack when they get up every morning if they can get themselves on an eight year deal or a seven year deal I think they are all over it but interesting to see when the cap goes up I really am curious to see how you know different contracts change because as we've talked about I think it was Russo who brings it up all the time you know the players who eat are going to eat you know

the Connor McDavid's of the world are going to eat it affects the players in the middle of the pack in the bottom of the pack as far as what kind of deals they are going to get. We've got a deal, some retirements and some captains to talk about throughout rapid fire, and we're going to hit them all. All right, Jesse, my favorite time of the show with yours, rapid fire. Topic number one, we touched on this last week. I was wondering what the hell was going on with Thomas Tatar while we finally got our answer.

As he signs with the Colorado Avalanche, one-year deal, $1.5 million. Are I the only one who thinks this is the biggest team-friendly deal you've ever seen? Talk about banking, trying to bank on yourself and take a risk on yourself. $1.5 million for Thomas Tatar? Yeah, I think it's a great deal for the Aves. I think he's in a good spot to score a bunch of goals. That team, I thought the biggest difference when you look at that roster last year compared to the cup winning roster was they didn't have the scoring depth. They lost some of those pieces and obviously injuries played a part in that. They had guys out and that pushes everyone up a notch and suddenly you're playing above your weight. But I think Tatar gives that team a really good depth score, I think, for a million and a half. It's one of those ones where he can't underperform that cap hit number.

Like, he is, you're such a, if he has the worst season. You're like, look at the way. Like Tatar, if he has the worst season of his entire NHL career, it's probably worth more than $1.5 million. Like you are going to get that. value if you're the avalanche on that deal. It's almost a certainty as long as he's healthy, he is going to score enough goals to far exceed $1.5 million worth to your team. I think it's a great signing for the ad.

Yeah, I wonder how much of it really was like, you know, they waited a long time to get this thing done. You're going to a really, really, really good hockey team. You could win yourself a Stanley Cup. But for someone who is coming off a 20-goal season, in fact, he's got seven of them. It's just 1.5 seems like. much peanuts. What if what if you're Tatar and you're looking around and like you've got like three or four

offers and maybe some of them are a little better than the abs but it's like none of them are great. None of them are worth like what you feel you're worth. It's like you know what? I'll go score a bunch of goals for the avalanche and go on a deep playoff run and score some goals in the playoffs. Look like Ivan Barbys like Ivan Barbish did for the golden nights and make myself a bunch of money next year. I think that's yeah, something needs to come into into your decision. Right? Like it really does. Are you going to get buried? If I'm making up, I'm not saying Arizona was in the running, but if Arizona's offering you 2.1, 2.5, is it worth it to go there

or bank on yourself for that one year? Okay, we're starting to sound like Russo here with deep diving into rapid fire topics. Rapid fire topic number two, Quinn Hughes, named Captain of the Vancouver Canucks, 23 years old entering his sixth season, 15th captain in team histories, right there with guys like Henrik and Roberto and Messier. this is something Thomas Drance pointed out on the athletic. I thought it was an interesting point. Usually in Vancouver, when they name a new captain,

it's huge fanfare. They have like a big event. They bring back former captains, everything else. This one was basically a press release and said, you know, we'll address the media, but that's it. Your thoughts on Quinn Hughes, 23 years old captain of the Kennes. I like it. Great player.

And I think like sometimes with the young players, it happens too soon. You just, oh, you're the best player on the team. I know you're at 19, but there you go. I think he's been in the league long enough and been on that team long enough to be a legitimate captain, not just a, oh, wow, this kid's really talented. Let's put the C on him. I think, I think it's a good, a great decision in terms of the player and good timing in terms of like where he's at in his career. New captain number two, Adam Lowry named captain of the Jets. Remember they played last

season without a captain when Blake Wheeler got stripped of it in September. This one wasn't as obvious as Hughes. I think Hughes, that, to me at least, looked like that was going to happen for a while. You've got a third-line center here, kind of somewhere in tear on his body, he's 30 years old, but Lowry now the captain of the Jets. Yeah, it's, like he said, he's not, like, the obvious guy.

Rick Bonas is clearly trying to change the culture in Winnipeg. Like, that's his main goal. And I got to watch a lot of the Jets first round. They played the Golden Knights. And Lowry is the, he is the go-to-we. work and get in on the forecheck, the energy. Like, he brings everything Rick Bonas wants everyone on that team to do. So that's why he's, like, it's, that's obviously why he's the captain.

It's lead by example. This guy has the C. He does every, do everything the way that guy's doing it, which is a, like you mentioned, he's not the most talented, the fastest guy. He just works really hard. And I'm going to slip this one in here. It's not necessarily on our lineup that we said we're going to talk about. But Seth Jones came out and said, he wants to be the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.

it's interesting, you know, in a place where you talk about young players, automatically you're the best player there. You're going to be the captain anyway. Let's just give it to you now. It'd be interesting if Seth Jones is that bridge for Connor Bardard. You know what I mean? If it's like, you know what? He's not ready yet.

He's, let's not forget, you know, the hockey puck's probably haven't even dropped yet. Let's let's have me go in there for a few years. I'm really curious, or is Chicago going to do the thing where they don't have. have a captain for a few years because they just want to kind of pave the way for Bedard, especially when look who you're following. One of the greatest

captains in team history in Jonathan tapes, right? I wonder how the Blackhawks are going to handle this. Yeah, it's weird. When's the last time you, do you ever remember a player coming out saying, I want to be the captain? No, no. I like it, though. It's weird. I like it. I wonder

if his teammates do. Because the worst, yeah, the worst captain or the worst leaders are people who tell everyone they're a good leader, right? Leaders just happen. You know, the best leaders are the people that you just instinctually look to them for advice, look to them for guidance. And all of a sudden you go, oh, yeah, I'm always going to this person. Well, that makes them a good leader.

The people who say like, I should be the leader. I should be the president. I should be the captain. I don't know. I don't know. I'm wondering how his teammates took that one. Two more topics. Rapid Fire number four.

Zach Parizzi. Lou Lamarolo actually making some news did say that Parizé will not be at Islanders training camp. They're not going to offer him a contract. Remember, he's still getting paid

for that massive deal when he got bought out the deal he signed with the Wild. But he's 39, Jesse. This, I don't know about you, sounds like a retirement-type announcement to me if he's still just sitting at home going, you know what,

I'm not going to go anywhere. Maybe in January, if somebody's hurt, he signs a deal, but he's earned over 110 million in his career. I don't think money's going to be too much of an issue for him. Right, but it is, I mean, the guy scored 21 goals last year, right? And like, and 15 the year before that, and he did it in an Islander system that is not exactly pouring goals. Like, this isn't an offensive juggernaut.

He was just kind of long for the ride. Like 21 goals, there's, there are players out there in camp that are, that are not able to score 21 goals in the NHL. and Paris A can even at 39. I'm a little surprised by it. And finally, number five, Andrew Ladd, after 1,000 and one games in the NHL, announced his retirement, two-time Stanley Cup champion. He won it as a rookie with Carolina.

I forgot he was a rookie on that team. And the 2010 Chicago Blackhawks, kind of an up-and-down career is how I would describe Andrew Ladd's career, especially with those injuries. But hats off. Anytime you can play a thousand games, 16 years, and two cups, It's a good time to ride off from the sunset. Yeah, he checked all the boxes. Great NHL career.

Before we go, what are you working on? I know you talked about games on the schedule. I'm assuming you're going to be there. Yeah, I'm going to be down at the rookie showcase. Got a bunch of teams in town with all their rookies. So starting Friday, there's going to be games. Golden Knights, rookies, I'll watch them. I'm going to do some preview stuff.

This is the time for previewing, see what kind of holes on the Golden Knights roster they have to fill after bringing back pretty much the same team from the championship with the exception of Riley Smith. So breaking down some camp battles and getting ready for the season. I love this time of the year for previews and reading my favorite writers. You know, I was reading the one burning question for each team piece on the athletic. That's the kind of stuff I just love reading in September. So it really does mean that the season's right around the corner. We'll see you next week, Jesse. Before I go, though, I want to let everybody know. Remember, subscribe to our YouTube channel,

YouTube.com slash the athletic hockey show. And right now you get a new subscription to The Athletic for a dollar a month for 12 months when you visit Theathletic.com slash hockey show. And of course, the show will be back on Thursday with Ian Mendez and Down Goes Brown. And Matt Boldie's going to join Russo on the season premiere of Straight From the Source

later this week at The Athletic. For Jesse, for Russo, I'm Piso. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week. Thank you.